CALEDONIA, Ont.—Talks have broken
down, but there was still some hope yesterday for a peaceful resolution to a
seven-week-old native land occupation that threatens to divide this small
community south of Hamilton.
The dispute, which the more than two dozen Six Nations members involved
prefer to call a "land reclamation," is beginning to chafe with residents of
this bedroom community. "It's creating a rift," said one local resident, who
refused to give her name. "It has to end before it causes resentment."
On Feb. 28, a group of Six Nations members occupied a housing project
known as Douglas Creek Estates, erecting tents, a teepee and a wooden building
on a tract of land they claim was wrongfully taken from them by the federal
government.
The blockade prevents access to a handful of half-finished homes.
No new talks are planned, said Janie Jamieson, spokesperson for the
protestors.
"The communication has not completely broken down, but the talks have,"
she said.
The protestors want the development to stop and the government to
compensate the developer, Henco Industries.
Owner Don Hennings said the company has received a letter of intent to
discuss compensation, but no dollar figure has been mentioned.
Police action was feared after talks stalled Tuesday between aboriginal
leaders, the developer and federal and provincial officials.
Police have yet to enforce a court injunction against the protestors,
granted last month by a Superior Court justice.
Canadian Press
Native land occupiers stay put as efforts to negotiate deal stall
Thu, April 20, 2006
But there's still hope for a peaceful
resolution to the seven - week - old dispute near Hamilton.
By JENNIFER GRAHAM, CP
CALEDONIA -- Talks have broken down, but hope was still being held out
yesterday for a peaceful resolution to a seven-week-old native land occupation
that threatens to divide this small southwestern Ontario community.
The dispute, which the more than two dozen Six Nations members involved
prefer to call a "land reclamation," is beginning to chafe with
residents of this bedroom community near Hamilton who say they're anxious to see
it end.
"It's creating a rift," said one local resident, who refused to
give her name. "It has to end before it causes resentment."
On Feb. 28, Six Nations members occupied a housing project known as
Douglas Creek Estates, erecting tents, a teepee and a wooden building on a tract
of land they claim was wrongfully taken from them by the federal government.
The blockade prevents access to a handful of homes that sit
half-completed, barely visible at night beyond the glow of a bonfire. Next to
the road sits a large portable sign, which reads, "Oh Canada -- your home
on native land."
Fears of imminent police action were high after talks stalled Tuesday
between aboriginal leaders, the developer and federal and provincial officials.
No new talks are planned, said Janie Jamieson, who speaks for the protesters.
"The communication has not completely broken down, but the talks
have," Jamieson said.
The protesters say they want the development to stop and the government to
compensate the developer, Henco Industries. Owner Don Hennings said the company
has received a letter of intent to discuss compensation, but no dollar figure
has been mentioned.
Hennings said aboriginal leaders surrendered the land to the government in
1841 on the understanding the land would be sold and the proceeds invested for
the benefit of the Six Nations.
Police remain on the scene, but have not enforced a court injunction
against the protesters that was granted by a Superior Court justice last month.
The dispute has conjured memories of the standoff at Ipperwash Provincial
Park in 1995, when protester Dudley George was killed by a police sniper as
officers began to advance on a group of natives who had taken over the park.
Experts say the fallout that ensued for the governing Conservatives and
former premier Mike Harris, as well as for the Ontario Provincial Police, has
both the province and the authorities taking a much more conciliatory stance.
OPP Const. Paula Wright said police are encouraging dialogue, but are
prepared to act if other options prove unsuccessful.
"Once every opportunity and every avenue has been explored and we
know that there's no possibility for a peaceful resolution, the OPP shall
execute the order of the court, but it would only be as a last resort,"
Wright said.
"We all live and work in the same community, it's important that we
find a peaceful resolution if possible."
That was the message out of the Ontario legislature yesterday as
Conservative critic Toby Barrett accused the governing Liberals of dragging
their heels on resolving the dispute.
"The member opposite has just accused us of demonstrating weakness
because we are taking the necessary time to resolve this issue in a peaceful
manner. Well, that's the approach and we're not going to apologize," said
Premier Dalton McGuinty. "We will proceed in a responsible fashion.''
Canada and Six Nations Confederacy: Occupation of Douglas Creek
continues
Six Nations protesters have occupied a Caledonia, Ontario,
subdivision building site known as the Douglas Creek Estates since
February 28. The land is part of the original Haldimand Deed of 1784
ceded to them by the British Crown for their support as allies in the
U.S. War of Independence.
The Haldimand Tract, originally six miles on either side of the Grand
River from the mouth to the source, comprised 950,000 acres and
contained some of the richest land in Ontario. In typical fashion, the
British Crown waited only eleven years until Lord Simcoe arbitrarily
reduced the tract to 275,000 acres.
The distribution, theft, illegal seizure and phony sales carried out in
the last 322 years have reduced the reserve to less than 5% of the
original tract. Years ago when the colonial administration built a plank
road from Hamilton to Port Dover (from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie), Six
Nations land was confiscated where the road crosses the Grand River at
Caledonia.
In 1987 this Plank Road Tract was officially placed as a land claim by
the Six Nations. It must have been a bitter pill to swallow when this
disputed land was sold in 1991 to John and Don Henning, frustrated
developers and current deed holders who own Henco Industries. This in
itself is witness to the ambivalent attitude of government to serious
claims of redress by Aboriginal peoples.
The situation is somewhat complicated by the existence of two
authorities on the reserve, because of historical, cultural and
traditional differences with the imposition of elected band councils
which are alien to the traditional governance of the Six Nations. In the
current struggle, the elected council does not support the occupation
but does support the Plank Road Land Claim and opposes any use of force
against the occupiers. The traditional leaders, including the Clan
Mothers, support the occupation and the land claim.
On March 9th superior court justice David Marshall, addressing an
application by Henco Industries, granted an injunction against native
occupiers of the entrance to the disputed site. This injunction went
back to court on March 16-17, partly at request of the Ontario
Provincial Police for more clarity. The Crown Counsel, John Pearson,
asked a peeved Judge Marshall for more clarity to allow proper
enforcement so the protesters could be charged with contempt of court.
Judge Marshall stressed that the original order had been drafted with
help of lawyers for the attorney general, the OPP and Henco Industries.
(That must have been a nice party - everyone welcome but native people.
So much for the neutral court. If contempt could really be enforced, the
entire native population and most of the working class would have to be
incarcerated.)
The injunction was rehashed and honed and March 22 was set for
enforcement. On March 23, about 100 Six Nations women, including the
Clan Mothers, formed a human chain across the entrance to the site,
locking arms together and waiting for the OPP. They were joined by about
200 native and non-native supporters. The police, still smarting from
the Ipperwash Enquiry into the murder of Dudley George, and perhaps
remembering the humiliation of the Canadian Army by Mohawk women
defending their reserve in Quebec in 1992, did not show up. To
everyone's credit, it was a non-event. The OPP are in the area but have
not sought a confrontation.
On Sunday, April 9, about 200 people attended a rally held at the site.
It was a good show, with Local 1005 United Steelworkers and their
banners most evident among labour supporters. There were also signs from
peace groups.
The Six Nations came to this area, not as defeated people, but as allies
of the British because they thought they could get a better deal. They
were mindful that the new American Republic was a slave state with no
love for native rights. It is doubtful if the British in 1784 or again
in 1812 could have held Canada without the military strength of the
native people. In 1812 the native people, who did most of the fighting
under Tecumseh, took heavy casualties and probably saved the country
despite British bungling and deceit.
The Six Nations Confederacy (the Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora,
Cayuga and Mohawks) is a tradition of one of the oldest participatory
democracies in the world. It is a tradition of a courageous and
unconquered people, a parallel nation who have been allies and
supporters in the formation of Canada. In the last 300 years they have
been robbed of 95% of their original land - one hell of a rotten way to
treat allies and friends. This ongoing struggle will continue to boil
over everywhere in this country until justice is done with the
Aboriginal Nations.
The people of Six Nations say they are repossessing their
land
by Hillary Bain Lindsay
Sewatis has been at the Six Nations blockade since it began on February 28th.
"I was the first one to encounter your enforcement officer," he says.
"I was peaceful and just explained the situation. [I said] 'I cannot follow
your orders because I'm not Canadian. I'm Haudenosaunee.'"
The police officer he was speaking with didn't appear to know how to
handle Sewatis' response to his order. The fact that someone born and raised
only a few miles from where they stood--just outside of Caledonia, Ontario--was
not Canadian was a difficult concept to grasp. "So I just told him 'You'll
have to wait for my superiors to come,'" says Sewatis. "That's the
kind of language they seem to understand."
I am sitting with Sewatis in his van. For over six weeks this is where he
has slept--when he has slept. Many nights he sits by the fire, keeping watch in
case the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) chooses to invade the site.
From where we sit, we can see dozens of people gathered around the fire,
singing, laughing and talking. To our left is a cookhouse that was recently
built to feed the growing number of people that have come to support the
repossession of Six Nations' land. There are several tents, a teepee and a
couple trailers scattered nearby.
It might feel like a camping trip except for the fact that we are in the
middle of a construction site. There are no trees or grass and ten partially
built suburban homes stand nearby. Henco Industries had hoped to build hundreds
of houses here. Construction was halted on February 28th when the road to the
site was blocked and Henco was informed that the land is not theirs to build on.
"We're here telling people that it's our land and it was illegally
attained and it was illegally sold," says Sewatis. "That's just the
plain and simple truth."
This is not "the kind of language they seem to understand."
On April 6th the Canadian government said that the Six Nations dispute is
not about land rights. "This is not a lands-claim matter," said
Deirdre McCracken, a spokesperson for Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice.
She also said that the blockade "has nothing to do with the federal
government."
But according to a statement released on March 20th by the women of Rotinoshon'non:we
(meaning Iroquois or Haudenosaunee, depending on the language being spoken), the
blockade has quite a lot to do with land, and with the Canadian government.
The statement outlines how "General Haldimand confirmed that Britain
would affirm the right of the Six Nations to a tract of land six miles deep on
either side of the Grand River running from its mouth to its source." The
piece of land immediately under dispute is only a small part of the much larger
"Haldimand Tract."
This piece of history is not being debated. A plaque erected in Cayuga,
Ontario by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board says much the
same thing. The sign also notes that the land was awarded in 1784 in recognition
of the Six Nations' help to the British Crown during the American Revolution.
What the plaque says next is where the stories diverge. "In later years,
large areas of this tract... were sold to white settlers."
According to the women of the Rotinoshon'non:we, however, "None
of this land [the Haldimand tract] was ever legally surrendered." The
women's statement carries a great deal of weight, given that, "Women are
the 'Title Holders' of the land of Rotinoshon’non:we as recalled by
Wampum 44 of the Kaianereh'ko:wa."
The significance of the previous sentence will be lost on most Canadians.
Indigenous nations have their own constitution (Kaianereh’ko:wa).
"The idea that British Colonists or their descendents--like Canadians--were
the only people who had 'law' is a legal fiction," says Kahentinetha Horn,
a Mohawk elder from Kahnawake. Canada "has totally disrespected our laws
and agreements to conduct a nation-to-nation relationship."
The Six Nations Confederacy has been called the oldest living participatory
democracy on earth. Hazel Hill, one of the women active at the blockade
describes how decisions are made. "There are fifty chiefs which represent
the Confederacy Council and there is a clanmother with each chief. It is the
people whose voice the chiefs and clanmothers carry. Any decision regarding
land, comes first from the women, and then to their clans, and through the
process of our council, when all are in agreement, or when consensus has been
reached, only then does the decision stand," she says. "In our history
of the Haldimand Tract, this has never been done."
The Band Council system was imposed by force on Six Nations in 1924. In the
place of the traditional government, a structure that many refer to as "a
puppet government" was installed using the Indian Act.
Since 1924, the Canadian government has done its negotiating with the Band
Council, a system that is paid for and is a part of the federal government.
"The Band Council," says Horn, "does not represent the Six
Nations peoples according to international law."
In an open letter to local newspapers, Hill compares the government's
agreements with Band Council to finding a few people in Caledonia to agree to
sell their town to the people Six Nations. "Would that be legal?" she
asks.
The Band Council system does not allow the voice of the people to be heard,
says Horn. If the Canadian government wants to seek legitimate discussions,
negotiations must be done on a nation-to-nation basis. "There could then be
an orderly settlement based on an orderly investigation of the facts and an
orderly identification of the laws that apply," says Horn. "The reason
Canada doesn’t want to do this is because it knows full well that when the
process is complete, the facts will clearly show they have illegally invaded our
land."
There is a large sign at the Six Nations blockade that reads "Oh Canada,
your home on native land." Reversing the meaning of something as basic as
the national anthem seems appropriate for a standoff that could turn the meaning
of Canada on its head.
"A lot of people have squatted on our land," observes Carol
Bomberry. Pointing to Caledonia she continues, "This is one of the towns
that is on our land."
Most Caledonians probably don't consider themselves squatters. Chances are
they consider Caledonia home. What does it mean if Caledonia is not Canada?
Mike Laughing, one of the men manning the blockade, responds
matter-of-factly. "Look at it this way: just imagine if all those people
got to live on native land. Instead of paying taxes to the government they could
be giving it to the true landlords, back to this nation," says Laughing.
"If they didn't want to do that then they'd have to move. But we're not
saying move away."
As for the small piece of land immediately under dispute, Bomberry has a
similarly straightforward suggestion: She'd like to see the Canadian government
buy the houses back from Henco Industries and restore the land to Six Nations.
The Six Nations Reserve, the most populous reserve in Canada, currently
consists of less than five per cent of the original Haldimand Tract.
"There's a ten year waiting list for houses," Bomberry points out.
"Our population is growing every year. We need more room."
Acknowledging Indigenous land rights will, of course, mean much more than
establishing who lives where or who pays taxes to who. Laughing says he's at the
blockade for the sake of his kids. Canada "has been standing on the back of
an Indian for too long," he says. "It's time to get off and let us
stand proud of who we are."
It is not only First Nations people that stand to benefit from a just outcome
to the Six Nations standoff, says Horn. Natives and non-natives alike are
suffering from a system that is destroying the environment. Horn believes that
under Indigenous title, the land would be treated with far more respect.
"According to our constitution we have to take care of the land, in other
words we're environmentalists," explains Horn. "That's why it's
important [for non-native people] to help us assert our jurisdiction."
People from across Canada and around the world have lent their support to the
Six Nations' struggle. Hundreds of people have gathered at the site each time
there has been a threat of the OPP moving in.
"The Canadian government calls themselves peaceful," says Sewatis.
"I hope that they live what they say."
If the OPP chooses to invade, many at the site feel that it is their duty to
defend their land and defend their people. "We're not seeking
violence," he says. "I seek peace first...but, I believe in what's
right."
Sewatis has seen how standoffs over land rights have ended before. "They
think they can make peace by having a gun and having it their way," he
observes. "We want to talk about peace and the laws and jurisdiction of the
lands. We are going to utilize the great law of peace. We're going to offer it
one more time."
When this article went to print, over 50 police cruisers were gathering
in Caledonia and Six Nations was on "Red Alert."
Caledonia, Ont.
— Police helicopters roared overhead as defiant native protesters climbed
atop buildings and set tires ablaze Thursday in an escalating confrontation
between police and Six Nations members occupying a southwestern Ontario
construction site.
The angry protesters used a large dump truck and a massive tire fire to
block a road leading to a housing project they say sits on native land,
brazenly mocking police after a pre-dawn raid that was supposed to end the
52-day occupation.
One protester planted himself on top of the truck and yelled, “What
big men they are” as he waved a red Mohawk flag. At the other end of the
road, a massive pile of flaming tires sent thick plumes of smoke into the air.
Dozens of Six Nations protesters occupied the Douglas Creek Estates
housing project southwest of Hamilton on Feb. 28.
A judge granted an injunction in March to remove the occupiers, and
police had been negotiating to have the natives leave the land peacefully
throughout the dispute. Tensions mounted earlier this week when talks broke
down.
There was a report that at least nine people were arrested Thursday
morning as police moved in with “overwhelming force” in a pre-dawn raid,
but the occupiers called in reinforcements and police had to retreat.
A spokeswoman for the protesters, Janie Jamieson, said the confrontation
is far from over and occupiers were bracing for another visit by police.
“We're prepared ... for however long it takes,” said Ms. Jamieson,
who noted that a few hundred protesters were already on the scene.
“It's time Canada better stand up and take notice,” another
protester said. “Everybody that is available is here.”
Ontario police Sergeant Dave Rektor refused to confirm any arrests and
said there would be no official comment until a news media briefing Thursday
afternoon.
Police action against aboriginals is an especially sensitive issue in
Ontario, where a standoff in 1995 in Ipperwash Provincial Park resulted in the
death of protester Dudley George.
Just before 5 a.m., police armed with Tasers, tear gas and pepper spray
made their move on the occupation, “incredibly quickly with overwhelming
force,” protester Mike Desroches told Hamilton's CHCH television.
“The police just completely swarmed the territory,” he said, adding
that the officers entered the site with guns drawn.
“The police come in – without any warning, they come and raid our
village – that's their tactic, they always come in when nobody's aware,”
Norma General, the mother of protester Chad General, tearfully told CHCH.
One unidentified protester said he was called about two hours after the
initial raid and told to go to the scene.
“We got down and we all grouped together and started evicting them
(police) – by the use of bodies, no weapons,” he said.
Video from the scene Thursday showed a large crowd of police officers
moving on foot toward some of the newly arrived protesters.
About 65 protesters blocked the path of police and began walking toward
the officers. Police then slowly retreated onto a dirt road.
After the confrontation, about two dozen police vehicles left the
protest site and headed for the nearby town of Caledonia.
At least one Roman Catholic school in the Caledonia area closed for the
day at the request of police.
The protesters argued that the site was part of a large land grant back
in 1784, but the provincial and federal governments say the land was
surrendered in 1841 to help build a major highway.
The protest has upset local residents, 500 of whom turned out earlier
this month for a rally to demand that authorities end the occupation.
A spokeswoman for federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice has said
the occupation is a provincial matter. The Ontario government said earlier
this month that it wanted a negotiated end to the standoff.
On Wednesday, Premier Dalton McGuinty answered opposition questions
about the occupation by saying the province and the authorities were committed
to a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
The standoff was reminiscent of the aboriginal occupation of Ipperwash
Provincial Park, which resulted in the death of protester Dudley George from a
police sniper's bullet.
The park was seized by First Nations protesters on Sept. 4, 1995, under
the belief it was native territory that had never been properly surrendered.
Provincial police marched on the park two days later, and Mr. George was
slain in the ensuing showdown.
Mr. George's death prompted accusations of police and government racism
and an inquiry that is still ongoing.
Native protesters returned to an Ontario construction site Thursday, just
hours after police staged a pre-dawn raid to break up a seven-week-old
occupation.
Police helicopters hovered ahead as protesters blocked roads, climbed atop
buildings and set tires alight -- sending plumes of black smoke billowing into
the air.
There are reports of several arrests, although police have not
confirmed that.
Protester Hazel Hill told CTV Newsnet that she believed around 12 people
had been arrested.
"People were pepper sprayed...another man was shot in the back with a
Taser and we were told more police officers would be coming back," Hill
said, adding that she herself had struggled with up to five police officers.
"It's our land, give it back and that's the end of it," she
said.
The OPP is now said to be regrouping and around
1,000 police officers have been placed on standby.
Since Feb. 28, dozens of Six Nations protesters have occupied the
Douglas Creek Estates housing project near Hamilton, southwestern
Ontario, which they say sits on native land.
The protestors argue that the site was part of a large land grant
back in 1784, but the provincial and federal governments insist the land
was surrendered in 1841 to help build a major highway.
An Ontario Superior Court judge ordered the protesters to leave last
month, but they ignored the order.
Police then staged a pre-dawn raid Thursday morning, two days after talks
to end the dispute broke down.
Protester Mike Desroches told reporters at the scene that police arrived "incredibly
quickly with overwhelming force," just before 5 a.m.
Desroches said police were armed with guns, tear gas and
Tasers and "completely swarmed the territory," but there was initally
no sign of violence.
The native occupation has irked local residents, at least 500 of whom
turned out earlier this month for a rally to demand that authorities end the
protest.
Ontario Provincial Police have so far not commented on Thursday's raid,
but OPP Sgt. Dave Rektor told The Canadian Press there would be a news media
briefing, likely to be held Thursday afternoon.
The clash with police brings to mind the aboriginal occupation of
Ipperwash Provincial Park, which resulted in the death of protester Dudley
George from a police sniper's bullet.
The park was seized by First Nations protesters on Sept. 4, 1995, under
the belief it was native territory that had never been properly surrendered.
Provincial police marched on the park two days later, and George was slain
in the ensuing showdown.
George's death prompted accusations of police and government racism and an
inquiry that is still ongoing.
CROSS-CANADA ACTIONS IN SUPPORT OF HAUDENOSAUNEE/SIX
NATIONS
Montreal, North Battleford, Saskatoon, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria April 11-12, 2006
On March 3rd, 2006, Rotinoshon'non:we (Haudenosaunee/"Iroquois")
people and supporters set up camp on the Haldimand Tract, located at the
entrance to Douglas Creek Estates, a 71-lot subdivision under construction by
Henco Industries Ltd. on Six Nations territory. This land has at no point been
surrendered to Canada, and was formally recognized by the Crown as Six Nations
territory as part of the 1784 Haldimand Deed.
The Ontario government has responded
by threatening Six Nations with police action reminiscent of the lead-up to
the murder of Dudley George by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) at
Ipperwash in 1995. The Six Nations community has requested solidarity in their
struggle to affirm their inherent right to self-determination and sovereignty
on the land. "Canada must stop using guns to resolve its legal disputes
with the indigenous people," states Jacqueline House.
Across Canada, Indigenous and
non-Indigenous people are standing in solidarity with Six Nations people. Join
us in calling for:
1. An immediate cessation of Henco's activities
2. Peaceful nation-to-nation negotiations and a withdrawal of police forces
3. An end to the continued illegal expropriation of Indigenous lands and
territories
VICTORIA, COAST SALISH TERRITORY Information Picket
4 PM, Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Canada Revenue Agency, 1415 Vancouver Street (Vancouver & Johnson)
Express your concerns to:
* Michaelle Jean, Governor General of
Canada (call for nation-to-nation negotiations):
Phone: (613) 993-8200, Toll Free: 1-800-465-6890, Fax: (613) 998-1664,
Email: info@gg.ca
Local 1005 representatives meet native protesters at the
disputed Caledonia land.
By Elaine Marion, Hamilton
The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 12, 2006)
Re: 'Get the protesters out ... now!' (letter, April 4)
This letter on the protest in Caledonia disturbed me. Not that the
Ontario Provincial Police need my defence, since they are obviously
doing a good job of keeping the peace at the site. Their presence is
most likely to protect the protesters from possible abuse.
The letter writer is wrong to say that only natives could persist
in civil disobedience for any length of time. None of the tree-sitters
in the Red Hill Valley were native, and that lasted for 105 days, ending
only when the last tree-sitter came down.
The Spectator covered these events and spent resources discussing
the role of peaceful civil disobedience in a democracy.
But this letter gives me great pause for another reason --
separating a segment of society out to attribute wilful wrongdoing to
them. I have a concern about the effects such accusations could provoke.
The UN is right in drawing attention to the plight of natives in
our society. I believe the natives of Six Nations have been patient for
a long time.
I am ashamed to say that while living so close to one of the
biggest cities in North America, the people of Six Nations do not all
have access to potable water.
This is a shame shared by all citizens when a group in a society
suffers from the lack of basic human rights.
Akwesasne Mohawks Stirring Trouble at Six Nations
reserve
BREAKING
NEWS: AKWESASNE
MOHAWKS STRIRRING TROUBLE AT SIX NATIONS RESERVE
Akwesasne Mohawk protesters occupying a partially completed
subdivision at the entrances to the Douglas Creek Estates development
in Caledonia, Ont. sheltered under tents and tarps for approximately a
month and a half.
Police cruisers were scattered throughout Caledonia and it was hard to
drive along Highway 6 without passing one.
Another two dozen marked and unmarked police vehicles were parked
outside an old elementary school, which is being used as a command
post by police.
A uniformed officer guarded the entrance to the former Seneca Unity
School yesterday.
The number of police cruisers sitting outside the building has tripled
over the past week, said June Cutts, who lives across the street.
Several police forces have been called in since the occupation.
Self proclaimed Mohawk Warrior Mike Laughing travelled from the
Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve nearly 6 hours away and said he is prepared
for a violent ending to the occupation.
Laughing said he is doubtful anything can be negotiated.
"Sometimes I hope it doesn't end violently, sometimes I hope it
does," said Laughing.
"At least it would be finished and we could show we are ready to
do what we have to do," he said.
Mike "Sahtekaientes" Laughing from Akwesasne Mohawk
reservation protests at Six Nations reserve near Caledonia, Ont.
The protest is also attracting interest from a group of self
proclaimed Mohawk "warriors" from New York State. About a
dozen of the self proclaimed warriors are on the site anxious to
protect aboriginal land rights, according to Mike "Sahtekaientes"
Laughing.
"There's more coming. We know exactly what your government is all
about. We've been through this before," Laughing said.
Six Nations clan mothers assert land title. "Therefore, we the
clan mothers command the agents, representatives and officers of the
said British corporation to be at peace and refrain from any acts of
violence to spill blood or interfere with the rights of the
Onkwe'hon:we."
"'If you go by history, they [the police] come in in the evening,
not in broad daylight, but when there’s no media, no reporters,'
said [Janie] Jamieson.
Mass e-mails and pleads for assistance have occured. Kahentinetha Horn
recently wrote in an e-mail "We are here as observors and do not
want anyone to get hurt. The only way is for the cops to stay away.
Send out the *Objection to Invasion of Kaianereh'ko;wa Territory by
the Foreign Governments of Canada and Ontario, their corporat entities
to arrest Rotinoshon'non:we for defending the land known as the "Haldimand
Tract".* Get word out to anybody and everybody that will listen.
We will be sending updates as they come in. The people are peaceful
and there only to make Canada and Ontario and Henco Industries abide
by the law and not by the genocidal policies. Call Janie
Jamieson."
The group has been camped out at the entrance to the construction site
since Feb. 28. On their side of the barrier, the Mohawk protesters man
their sawhorse barricade. The protesters have continued to block the
entrance under threat of arrest. That was the day a court injunction
ordered them to vacate the property so Henco Industries could resume
building.
There have been tense confrontations when Sheriff John Dawson came to
the site to read the latest version of a contempt order to evict the
natives from the site.
The counter eviction order that Six Nations activist Jeff Hawk tried
to serve on the sheriff still lay on the ground where Dawson left it
the day before. In it, Hawk accused the authorities of a myriad of
crimes against aboriginal people, including genocide.
Hawk had ordered the sheriff to read it first before the contempt
order, saying it superseded any order of the provincial courts.
